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Planning Commissioners made clear Wednesday that they want to take the lead as the city and UC Berkeley begin rewriting downtown zoning laws. 

“It’s completely absurd that all we do is come in at the end and recommend a plan to the council,” said Commissioner Rob Wrenn after the meeting. “They can’t just shove the Planning Commission out of the way and then bring it back at the last minute.” 

As stipulated in a legal settlement last spring, the city and UC Berkeley are beginning work on a new land-use plan for downtown, where UC Berkeley intends to do the majority of its new construction over the next 15 years. 

While the Downtown Berkeley Association supports a new land use plan, which it believes can help coordinate several new buildings and transportation developments proposed for the city center, several commissioners have publicly criticized the undertaking. They fear a new downtown plan will lead to taller buildings and give the university too much say in city zoning. 

Before work can begin on the plan, the City Council must form a citizen task force to guide staff on preparing the plan. Several planning commissioners Wednesday sparred with city staff, demanding the Planning Commission lead the task force. 

“Given that we have statutory responsibility to advise the council on area plans, it is really important that the Planning Commission be at the heart of the process,” said Planning Commissioner Sara Shumer. 

But city staff said they would not make any recommendations to the City Council regarding the committee’s hierarchy. 

“Staff’s view is that the City Council ought to decide what it wants to do,” said Planning Director Dan Marks. He said that staff would offer several options for the council in forming the task force at its Sept. 27 meeting. Marks did say that he would recommend the task force be limited to between 15 and 20 members. 

“As it gets larger, it gets more difficult to reach a consensus,” Marks said after the meeting. 

The last downtown plan, which included a working group of more than 25 residents, took five years to complete. The area plan for South Campus neighborhoods is now in its eighth year. 

Shumer countered that the task force would need more members to give a voice to all downtown stakeholders. 

“The community is already worried about the legitimacy and democratic nature of this process,” she said. “If it’s not an open process, people won’t see the plan as legitimate.” 

Harry Pollack, the commission chair, said he thought the task force should be “a manageable size” and added that he hadn’t formed an opinion on whether the commission should lead the task force. “We’re going to have a significant role in the process,” he said. “There will be regular communication between the commission and whatever body is set up.” 

The Planning Commission will vote on recommendations to the council at its next meeting on Sept. 28—one day after the council is scheduled to consider the issue. Commissioner Wrenn said he expected the council to hold off on making a final decision on the task force until the commission offers its proposals. 

“We have to pass the final plan before it can even go to the council,” he said. “If they want us to pass it they should make sure they solicit our input before they decide the process.” 

Besides the process for formulating the plan, there is still debate on whether planners should ignore the Downtown Plan or use it as a base for the new rules. 

Planning Manager Mark Rhoades said the UC-City agreement stipulated a new plan. “It doesn’t say revise the Downtown Plan, it says enter into a collaborative process for a Downtown Area Plan.” 

While agreeing that planners were devising a new plan, Marks, the planning director, said the current plan would not be ignored. “My assumption is we will start with the existing Downtown Plan. How we change it I can’t say.”›